It was a record-tying night for Janie Takeda.
Takeda, Oregon’s two-time All-American, earned career hit number 288 on an RBI single in the fourth inning. The hit helped the No. 1 Ducks defeat Stanford 6-3 on Monday evening. Takeda tied Courtney Ceo for Oregon’s career hits record and will look to break the record on Friday in Eugene.
The victory earned Oregon its third straight series sweep over Stanford and improved its record to 38-5 overall and 16-2 in Pac-12. The Cardinal dropped to 16-29 overall and 1-14 in conference play.
The Ducks wasted no time Monday, as Janelle Lindvall got Oregon on the board with a two-out, two-RBI single. Koral Costa added another run in the frame when she singled home Geri Ann Glasco to give the Ducks an early 3-0 lead.
Just as its done all series, Stanford rallied in the bottom half of the inning. Thanks to an error by Costa in centerfield, Stanford scored three runs in the inning to tie the game.
With two outs in the fourth inning, Nikki Udria started the rally with a double to left center on an 0-2 pitch. Takeda came to bat next and single dup the middle for the big hit and scoring Udria for the 4-3 lead.
The Ducks added their final two runs in the sixth inning when Jasmine Smithson-Willett started the inning off with a solo homerun. Jenna Lilley scored the last run of the game when she scored on a Glasco single.
Smithson-Willett started in the pitcher’s circle for the Ducks and threw the first 2.1 innings, giving up three runs on four hits with one strikeout. She was replaced by Cheridan Hawkins in the third inning and Hawkins domintated the rest of the way.
Hawkins threw the final 4.2 innings, giving up no runs and one hit. She faced 14 batters and struck out nine of them to earn the win and up her record to 20-3.
Oregon returns to action for a three-game series with Loiusiana-Lafeyette starting on Friday in Eugene. The Ragin Cajuns are a top-10 team nationally and advanced to last year’s Women’s College World Series. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.
Follow Ryan Kostecka on Twitter: @Ryan_Kostecka